Ghalib in Polish

Earlier we reported that Meer Taqi Meer has been translated into Polish, now it's the turn of Mirza Ghalib.

Now Ghalib's ghazals in Polish

March 23, 2006

By Surender Bhutani, Indo-Asian News Service

Warsaw, March 23 (IANS) Urdu poetry is making inroads into Poland, with the ghazals of renowned 19th century poet Mirza Ghalib being translated into Polish.


Anil Wadhwa, India's ambassador to Poland, released a collection of Ghalib's poems, translated by Polish intellectual Janusz Krzyzowski and Surender Zahid, an Indian poet based here.

More than 100 Polish writers, poets, critics, journalists and intellectuals apart from diplomats attended the ceremony held at the ambassador's residence.

'Poetry is something more deep, more philosophical and more worthy of serious attention than modern day world politics. Poets are the unacknowledged representatives of the universe,' said Wadhwa.

'Poetry and politics have an umbilical link and it is high time that we should encourage people like Janusz and Surender to translate the pearls of Urdu poetry for the Polish readers,' he said.

The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) financed the publication of Ghalib's ghazals into Polish.

Ghalib's collection of ghazals has continued to inspire generations of Urdu poetry lovers. His immense grasp of mysticism, his metaphors and his selection of words have influenced many Urdu poets.

Practically every great composer or singer, from K.L. Saigal and Begum Akhtar to Jagjit Singh, has composed or sung Ghalib's verses.

Wadhwa also released a translation of Zahid's ghazals in Polish along with a musical CD of his poems and songs.

'Surender's ghazals are a true reflection of an orient mind in an occident place. They are extremely sensitive and pensive,' the ambassador said.

Last year, Janusz and Surender translated works of 18th century Urdu poet Mir Taqi Mir into Polish, which also gained popularity in Polish literary circles.

Copyright Indo-Asian News Service

Upgrade Urdu

Well, it's not really about upgrading Urdu but providing resources to students who wants to learn Urdu. Govt. of India has systematically tried to undermine education of Urdu and continues to do so even for the last 59 years.




Upgrade Urdu: Muslims must not get left behind(COMMENTARY)

March 19, 2006

By Firoz Bakht Ahmed

The head of a government-run primary Urdu medium school made a shocking revelation in Delhi recently: Urdu books are not available till mid-September although schools open in summer and although Urdu is a second language in the city along with Punjabi.

And this is just one of the many problems confronting Muslims aspiring education.

Year after year, the abysmally low results in Urdu schools are indicative of the confusion among the managing bodies, principals, teachers, students and parents. This has resulted in a sharp decline in the academic levels of Indian Muslims.

As things stand, education is not a priority for Muslims for three reasons.

First, most of them are primarily agriculturists. Second, their belief that they are discriminated against in employment acts as a deterrent to higher education. Third, Muslim girls, till not so long ago, were not sent to school owing to social taboos.

Sparsely lit, dilapidated classrooms, poor sanitation, broken and decrepit furniture, unhygienic drinking water, lack of teachers, unconcerned parents and uninterested students are some of the features of the 10,000 beleaguered Urdu medium schools in India.

There seems to be a sort of conspiracy to downgrade Urdu by associating it with communalists and terrorists, forgetting that it is a language deeply entrenched in the composite heritage of India.

Ironically, Urdu has been kept alive by Hindi cinema, FM radio, madrassas and the occasional recitation of couplets from Ghalib, Iqbal and Faiz in parliament. A language does not prosper through such methods alone but by people who love it with sincerity.

More people should subscribe to Urdu newspapers and journals rather than getting these freely via mailing lists. Many popular children's Urdu magazines like Shama, Khilona, Toffee, Chandanagri and others have ceased publication for want of interest. They should be revived.

Urdu officers could be appointed in the government's nodal agencies like municipal corporations, police departments and so on. Besides, there should be more Urdu learning centres and Urdu should be part of the syllabus of Kendriya Vidyalayas and Navodaya Vidyalayas.

The pass percentage in Delhi over the last two decades in the board exams in Urdu-medium schools fluctuates between 20 percent and 30 percent. In Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, the failure rate is identical to Delhi's 77 percent. The only state where Urdu-medium students do really well is Maharashtra where the pass percentage stood at 64 percent this year.

Most teachers in Urdu schools are found to be lackadaisical and unconcerned about both their jobs and students. As if this were not enough, the management bodies of those already victimised and harried backward institutions act as parasites rather than working towards rejuvenating the system.

The hapless students feel that their schools are completely responsible for their disastrous failure. Instead of doing something to upgrade Urdu and secure a better future for students, Muslim leaders keep diverting issues concerning Muslims in educational, social and economic fields to more political matters.

The Muslim intelligentsia is to be blamed for this poor showing in their community's schools.

Children belonging to privileged Muslim families never study in Urdu schools. Rather they opt for missionary schools. Even those championing the cause of Urdu and occupying top positions in Urdu departments in universities and government offices prefer English-medium schools for their children.

Except the likes of Sir Syed, Muslims in general never bothered to establish good schools or colleges unlike the Christian missionaries.

Countrywide, every Urdu school has 10-12 vacancies in teaching jobs. No effort is made to fill them. A few Urdu schools do not even have their own buildings and are run in the open air.

Most schools do not have Urdu textbooks in subjects like science, geography and mathematics. Each year, textbooks fail to reach the market in time. When they finally do, the exams are over.

As India's largest minority, Muslims can't afford to be mediocre and spiritless. True, they should love Urdu but they must also make sure they are conversant in English and Hindi or one other regional language.

India is forging ahead but its Muslim population is still largely uneducated. More than anybody else, it is the responsibility of the Muslims to see that the community marches to a secure future.

( Firoz Bakht Ahmed is a commentator on educational and social issues. He can be reached at firozbakht@rediffmail.com)

Copyright Indo-Asian News Service

Sahara Samay to launch an Urdu channel

Looks like Urdu TV channel market is heating up. After al-jazeera, sahara samay is the biggest channel to announce a Urdu division.




Sahara Samay to launch an Urdu channel
agencyfaqs!
NEW DELHI, March 1
Sahara Samay, a part
of Sahara India Mass Communications, is all set to launch an Urdu news channel by May 2006.

Prabhat Dabral, head, Sahara Samay Rashtriya, says, “We plan to launch an Urdu news channel within the next three months.”

Dabral explains the need for the channel: “We have about 50 live bureaus, which no other channel can claim to have. With this kind of infrastructure, we thought why leave the huge Urdu market untapped. Moreover, we have a huge market share when it comes to the Urdu print editions in India and abroad.”

When asked about the cost of launching another news channel, Dabral says, “The necessary infrastructure is already there when one is part of a large bouquet. It’s only the operational costs that one needs.”

Meanwhile, ‘Roznama Rashtriya Sahara’, the Urdu daily from the Sahara Group, is also planning to launch 10 new editions within the next three months.

At present, the daily has three editions from Delhi, Lucknow and Gorakhpur. The next destinations are likely to be Mumbai, Patna and Kolkata, followed by Hyderabad.

Dabral says, “India is still a big market for the Urdu language. Our daily edition and the weekly international edition, ‘Aalmi Sahara’, are performing well in terms of readership and circulation figures.”

The Urdu daily currently boasts of columnists such as IK Gujral, Kuldip Nayar, Syed Shahabuddin and Syed Soharwardi. Dabral says, “These columns will be continued with a few additions in terms of features and columns.”

Dabral says that the local editions will have about two pages of local content. The cover price will be different for each edition, depending on the city and production costs. The Delhi edition is currently priced at Rs 2. Dabral adds, “We have our own printing presses in cities such as Lucknow and Patna and we have already rented a few more printing centres. So, production will not be a problem.”

According to Dabral, the editorial and marketing teams are already in place. The promotion campaign has already begun through in-house print mediums and TV channels, but the marketing strategy is still to be finalised.

© 2006 agencyfaqs! story fileby Ananya Saha

http://www.agencyfaqs.com/news/stories/2006/03/01/14324.html